October 19, 2005

Stick with the Original Manchurian Candidate

Those who worked on the special edition of the original verison of The Manchurian Candidate did a great job with the film. The remastering of the video and audio were outstanding. The picture was crisp and sharp. No film flaws were noticed. The sound was clear with no noticable pops or background fuzz. The film looked much like someone making a black and white film today. Cleaning up all the oldness let me concentrate on the story and acting. With its McCarthyism and Cold War overtones the picture is a cultural artifact. Still Frank Sinatra did well as the dream-tormented hero Ben Marco. But it was Angela Lansbury who stole the show as the evil mother/Communist agent who tried to use her brainwashed son to leap to power. The original movie's twists and turns and fine acting made it a much better movie than the anti-conservative, boring remake of last year.